


Before We Were Five, We Were Six

by xbleeple



Category: Sanctuary (TV), Stargate SG-1
Genre: Crossover, F/F, F/M, Mention of Helen/John
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-23 04:54:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19143967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xbleeple/pseuds/xbleeple
Summary: What if Janet Fraiser had been part of the original group? What if she had also presented as a vampire? And why did she leave?





	Before We Were Five, We Were Six

**Author's Note:**

> Prior to this I'd been inspired to write a Helen/Janet/Nikola fic by a conversation in our group Discord but never really got it off the ground.
> 
> But after someone who shall remain nameless posted [this](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/519367950931853312/576666972205350915/tumblr_ogdw460T8N1srtuyio2_250.jpg) picture (and others from the shoot), I had to pull the document back out again.

Helen jumps as the door slams, blinking back tears as she curls her fingers around the pendant hanging from her neck. She looks at Nikola, James, and Nigel before turning on her heel and leaving the room. Nikola and James share a look before Nigel breaks the silence, “Well…how about we tie on a pint?”

“A pint doesn’t solve everything, Nigel,” James accosts.

“Well we’re not going to solve their problems are we?” Nigel fires back, “Jan’s a hard headed Scotswoman that we added more fire to. She’ll cool down, but it’ll be tomorrow before we see her again. So. A pint?”

“I could go for a glass of wine,” Nikola agrees and James nods, the three of them grabbing their coats before leaving to head to the nearest pub.

Except the next day Janet doesn’t come back. Or the day after. Or the day after. And when Helen finally gets into her dorm room a week later she finds all of Janet’s belongings gone except for an envelope left on the desk with her name on it. She peels away the wax seal on the back and tears well in her eyes once more as she dumps out a silver necklace into her palm. She curls her fingers around the metal and pulls out the folded paper within before sitting down and reading the looping script scrawled across the pages. A sob escapes her when she gets to the end, the pieces of paper falling to the floor. She buries her face in her hands, the cool silver pressing against her hot skin.

_I can’t spend my eternity pretending that I’m okay with being second, simply because I had the misfortune of being born Janet instead of John._

Helen keeps an eye on the news as much as she can. When technology gets a little more advanced she burns some time going through archives. Anything to catch a mention of the name Janet Fraiser. Every lead she follows ends up at a dead end and it’s all she can do to draw the conclusion that her friend, her best friend, had simply fallen off the face of the earth. She couldn’t bring herself to believe that somehow the vampire had managed to die. Even with her reckless behavior. 

Once the internet becomes a thing she sets up a flag on the system to pull anything that mentions her name. Eventually she starts to forget. She doesn’t check as frequently and her inbox doesn’t fill. When they redo their system structure she doesn't even bother to set anything up again.

So in the late 90s when there's a knock on the Sanctuary door just as she's passing by on her way to bed for the evening she squares her shoulders, ready to fend off a salesman or some looky-loo that had gotten past the front gate. She'd been on the kids for years to make sure the gate closed behind them when they came home from school in the afternoon.

Helen opens the door just a crack, intent on telling whoever was on the other side to go away before her eyes widen when she sees who exactly was standing on the other side. She slams the door shut as her heartbeat ratchets up, thrumming in her ears.

"I suppose I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up about a better reaction," Janet says from the other side of the door, "If it makes you feel any better I've been sitting in my car since about ten o' clock this morning trying to work myself up to even do this. And that's after three days of trying to get myself to leave my hotel room."

Helen takes a deep breath and opens the door once more, this time wider. The petite doctor was on the other side with a tentative look on her face as she looks up at her old friend. Helen found it strange looking at her in jeans and a pale green button up over a white tank top. Last she had seen her her hair had been a long mess of natural auburn curl, hanging down to the middle of her back. She remembered how red it would shine when caught just right by the sunlight. Now, by all accounts, it was a short bob that was pulled away from her face with a smattering of highlights.

Janet notices Helen sizing her up but can't stop herself from doing the same thing. Gone was the honey blonde hair that Helen had had while they were growing up. She looked harder and fiercer, like the last century and change hadn't treated her the best. Yet as she drags her eyes south she can't help but lick her bottom lip slightly, afforded a much better view of her long legs and lean lines than she'd ever had in England. She inhales and looks back up into Helen's eyes as she feels a warmth fill her chest that she'd not felt in a long time.

"Hi."

"Hi," Helen repeats before opening the door wider to let Janet in. She shuts the door behind her before turning around to find her eyeing the interior architecture. Janet turns around once she hears the door latch and smiles slightly.

"How many do you have here?"

"Just over sixty, with room for about twenty more. But that's just here," Helen tells her, "But we've got approximately three thousand residents world wide and another two thousand outside of the facilities."

"You've certainly moved beyond your father's basement," Janet quips making Helen smile.

"It still functions as the London Sanctuary," Helen tells her.

“I know,” Janet replies, “I went there first. I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised that you left after…”

“Yes,” Helen nods shortly, the movement jerky as she’s forced to think about John. Her eyes flick up the stairs and she gestures, “I was turning in for the night, there should be some tea waiting.”

“Tea sounds great,” Janet agrees, following Helen upstairs. She takes her jacket off and drapes it over the back of one of the chairs that were sitting close to the fireplace. Stepping up to the side table, she turns over two of the cups that were sitting on the tray before looking up at Helen, “One sugar still?”

“Please,” Helen nods as she sits down in the other chair. Janet fills each of the cups before holding one out to her and taking her own seat. They’re both quiet for a moment before Helen speaks again, “Why…why now? I looked for you for years…and nothing.”

“I started a new job recently,” Janet says after taking a sip of her drink, “And there’s a woman there…I would swear that I was looking at you every time I see her.”

“That’s it?”

“I maybe held my grudge a couple of decades too long. And then I hid with my tail between my legs for a few more,” Janet admits with a gentle shrug, “I’m sorry for some things. And not for others.”

“Me too,” Helen whispers as she looks down at her teacup, “I think we’ve always known we’re both a bit too bullheaded.”

“When we were kids that meant not talking for a couple of days. It’s been…”

“A hundred and eleven years, six months, and eighteen days.”

“…or there about,” Janet sighs and looks up as Helen stands and sets her cup down before walking over to her vanity, “What are you…”

“I have something of yours,” Helen says as she searches through her jewelry box for a few moments before she finds what she was looking for. She closes the box up and walks over to Janet, holding out the necklace that had been in the letter she’d found all those years ago, “Here.”

“Hel…” Janet whispers.

“I had it made for _you_ ,” Helen tells her, a bit of force in her tone. She undoes the clasp and carefully wraps it around Janet’s neck before fastening it back together. The pad of her thumb strokes gently across Janet’s skin and her breath hitches as her throat tightens. She squeezes her shoulders, leaning down to kiss the crown of her head. When she inhales, the scent is different and familiar all at the same time, warmth and longing wrapping around her heart. It takes her a moment before she can speak again, “Stay…for however long you have. Stay."

“I’ve got all the time in the world,” Janet assures her with a small smile as she reaches up and covers Helen’s hand, looking up at her with the same warm brown eyes she remembered from when she was a much younger woman. 

Helen doesn’t hesitate as she leans down and presses her lips to Janet’s. The angle is awkward but her hands drift down Janet’s biceps and she leans her weight into the kiss. She finds her mind drifting through time and for a moment she’s not in Old City. 

_For a moment she’s in London and it’s 1866. It’s her 16th birthday and Janet was spending most of the summer with them as her family went through the process of moving down from Stirling. And in that moment they’re standing face to face in front of the fireplace in Helen’s bedroom dressed in their nightgowns, their hair unbound from the stylish updos they maintained during the day. The firelight was playing with the color of Janet’s hair as she reached up and fastened a pendant around Helen’s neck, a playful smile on her lips._

_“I saw it in the shop and it made me think of you,” She tells her as her fingertips travel not so teasingly over the exposed skin, “It matches your eyes.”_

_“It’s beautiful,” Helen assures her as she studies the gold flecks in Janet’s own eyes. She doesn’t get a chance to say thank you before Janet is leaning forward and kissing her. They both pause for a moment before Helen starts to kiss her back._

Helen pulls away and her breath is soft against Janet’s lips as she looks her in the eye, “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too…don’t think there’s ever been a day where I haven’t."


End file.
